CROP Walk

Each year my church participates in the Austin CROP Walk. This is a national campaign/fundraiser to raise money to end hunger in the U.S. and internationally. The CROP Walk is an interfaith event and is held at a park on the outskirts of Austin and Morey and I were happy to be recruited as "walkers". Since dogs were welcome, I invited my friend who has Maggie and Ace to join us.

Morey was very excited to see Maggie and Ace and when they loaded up in my van, all the dogs were anticipating going swimming or running at the off-leash dog park since that is the only place we have ever taken them together. I think they were disappointed when they realized they were going to have to stay on leash and behave themselves. There were other dogs at the event and, for the most part, Morey did a very good job of controlling himself. We did have to do a lot of "stop and go"s until he realized that he was supposed to be walking next to me, not next to Maggie and Ace, but he soon he remembered that the key to moving forward was keeping the leash loose. Which was good because the path was not entirely paved and I had to do some "off-roading" up and down some slopes that had rocks and tree roots running through them. It was a challenge and the last thing I needed was Morey pulling on the leash at an inopportune time.

It's fun to take Morey places where he can interact with people and other dogs without his formal "service dog" rules. Yet there are some rules that are absolutes, whether he is "on duty" or "off duty". Pulling on the leash is one of those things. That is dangerous for me under any circumstances. Service dogs have a very high standard and "code of conduct" to live by.

When we had completed the walk the dogs were still very energetic and ready to play. The park required dogs to be on leash so my friend and I went back to our church and let the dogs run. (Our church has a large open area in the back with trees, grass, and an outdoor chapel. It's a great place to sit and let the dogs run and play). With only two tennis balls between the three dogs it was a race each time to see who would get it, but they are all so easy going that whoever didn't end up with a ball just followed the others back to try again next time. It took about an hour and a half before they were ready to call it quits and settle down to chew on the balls instead of chase them. Morey and I both slept well that night!